LIFE WITH BIG BROTHER

NSA dragnet: Allies, aid groups, big business

Details described in documents dating from 2008 to 2011

Published: 12/21/2013 at 12:21 AM

(Salt Lake Tribune) Secret documents reveal more than 1,000 targets of U.S. and British surveillance in recent years, including the office of an Israeli prime minister, heads of international aid organizations, foreign energy companies and an EU official involved in antitrust battles with American technology businesses.

While the names of some political and diplomatic leaders have previously emerged as targets, the newly disclosed intelligence documents provide a much fuller portrait of the spies’ sweeping interests in more than 60 countries.

Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters, working closely with the National Security Agency, monitored the communications of senior EU officials, foreign leaders including African heads of state and sometimes their family members, directors of United Nations and other relief programs, and officials overseeing oil and finance ministries, according to the documents. In addition to Israel, some targets involve close allies like France and Germany, where tensions have already erupted over recent revelations about spying by the NSA.